Transforming rural livelihoods - indiaenvironmentportaladmin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/Transforming-RL-India-march.pdfIndia. Some of the lessons have been captured in the

Transforming Rural Livelihoods in India

Transforming RuralLivelihoods in India


Transforming RuralLivelihoods in India

This publication is an output from a project funded bythe Department for International Development (DFID)of the United Kingdom. The views expressed are notnecessarily those of DFID.

Transforming Rural Livelihoods in India22222

ForewordIndia’s strong economic growth has consistently sought to include the rural poor, who are

concentrated in areas where rainfed agriculture is the main economic activity. However, povertypersists because of limited and inequitable access to productive resources, such as land, water,improved inputs and technologies and microfinance, as well as vulnerability to drought and othernatural disasters. Low levels of literacy and skills conspire to keep people in the poverty trap,preventing them from claiming their basic rights or from embarking on new activities to earnincome or build assets.

The Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID)has made a substantial contribution to improving rural livelihoods in India. This has been mainlyachieved by supporting programmes led by state governments in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, MadhyaPradesh and West Bengal. These programmes have adopted different approaches - from ‘watershedplus’ in Andhra Pradesh and western Orissa to supporting Panchayat Raj institutions in MadhyaPradesh and West Bengal and Integrated Tribal Development Agencies in southern Orissa.However, the reduction of rural poverty through livelihoods promotion has been a unifying goal.These programmes focus on some of the poorest and most remote districts in these states andparticularly target women and socially excluded tribal and caste groups.

The rural livelihoods approach places people at the centre of development, and programmesbased on this approach help men and women build assets and develop their skills so that they canaccess new opportunities for income generation and employment. Most rural people depend onnatural resources and agriculture for their livelihoods and DFID-supported programmes pay particularattention to the sustainable management of water, land and forests. Particular packages of supportare directed to the landless and to marginal farmers so they also have opportunities to benefit.

Robust institutions and reliable services are essential to increase people’s participation indevelopment. Rural livelihoods programmes have supported the formation of self-help groupsand producer groups and have significantly increased access to microfinance on fair terms,

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Transforming Rural Livelihoods in India 33333

to veterinary and crop advisory services, to inputs such as improved seeds and to markets.A capacity building programme at all levels - from State to village - is inherent to the successof the programmes.

Working through state governments has enabled lessons learned to be efficiently capturedand rapidly scaled up. For example, the watershed plus approach developed and piloted in5 districts by the Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Programme, has now been scaled up to all22 districts of the State. DFID support has created the space to pilot innovative approaches thatinfluence some of the evolving rural development programmes and the objectives of theGovernment of India’s 11th Five Year Plan.

This booklet presents an overview of the impact of rural livelihood programmes supported byDFID in the context of the Millennium Development Goals, and explores some of the lessonslearned under headings of income generation and rural growth, better management of naturalresources, targeting the poorest and marginalised, and local institutions and self-governance.It goes on to consider some of the new challenges and opportunities facing rural India includingconverging different rural development schemes for greater development effectiveness,tackling persistent food insecurity and adaptation to climate change.

I hope that this booklet will not only make the reader aware of DFID’s important contributionbut will also add to the understanding of some of the challenges of poverty reduction in ruralIndia. Some of the lessons have been captured in the Common Guidelines that will shape theIntegrated Watershed Management Programme on which the Ministry of Rural Development isabout to embark. This programme aims to extend the benefits of a rural livelihoods approachto all the watersheds in the rainfed areas of India.

Bhaskar Chatterjee, IAS

Additional Secretary,Ministry of Rural Development,Government of India

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Despite impressive economic growth, poverty and hunger continue toblight the lives of many people in rural India. Rural development policies aresound, but there is a need for a step change in how they are implementedto achieve long-lasting poverty reduction.

India hosts DFID’s largest single country programme. We work to tacklepoverty at the national level and with state governments in our focal states ofAndhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar. One of ourpriorities is working in rural areas to help poor people develop the skills andopportunities they need to rise out of poverty. This report shows where DFID’ssupport to rural livelihood programmes have transformed lives, especially forthose facing social exclusion or living in remote areas.

The next challenge is to scale up these programmes so that they have awider impact. It is our close working with the central and state governmentsthat makes this ambition possible. I hope this close fruitful partnership willcontinue as we pursue our shared goal of eliminating poverty in India.

Susanna Moorehead

Minister (Development) and Head, DFID India

Note from Head of DFID India


DFID wishes to acknowledge thesupport of the Ministry of Rural Development,Government of India, the Commissioneratefor Rural Development, Government ofAndhra Pradesh, the Orissa WatershedDevelopment Mission, the Madhya PradeshSociety for Rural Livelihoods Promotion,the Department of ST and SC Development,Government of Orissa and the Panchayatsand Rural Development Department,Government of West Bengal, together withall government and NGO personnel whoplayed an essential role in making theseprogrammes a success.

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Acknowledgements


List of Acronyms

6

APRLP Andhra Pradesh Rural LivelihoodsProgramme

CLDP Comprehensive Land DevelopmentProgramme

CPSW A NGO implementing agency

DSMS District Supply and Marketing Society

EIRFP Eastern India Rainfed Farming Project

FFW Food for Work

GHG Greenhouse gas

GoAP Government of Andhra Pradesh

IKP Indira Kranti Patham (Communitybased development programme inAndhra Pradesh)

ILO International Labour Organisation

ITDA Integrated Tribal Development Agency

KAWAD Karnataka Watershed DevelopmentProject

MDG Millennium Development Goal

MPRLP Madhya Pradesh Rural LivelihoodsProgramme

NAP National Afforestation Programme

NGO Non-governmental organisation

NHM National Horticulture Mission

NREGS National Rural Employment GuaranteeScheme

OTELP Orissa Tribal Empowerment andLivelihoods Programme

PIA Project implementing agency

PRI Panchayati Raj Institution

SHG Self-help group

SRD Strengthening Rural DecentralisationProgramme (West Bengal)

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

WIRFP Western India Rainfed Farming Project

WORLP Western Orissa Rural LivelihoodsProgramme


The Challenge:Poverty Persists in Rural India

- 71% of India’s population is rural, of which29% (more than 200 million people) isbelow the national poverty line.

- Rural poverty declined at 0.73% per yearover the period 1993-2005, down from0.81% in 1983-94.

- 46% of rural children under five, 40% ofadult women and 38% of adult men areunderweight (compared to 33%, 25% and26% for urban).

- 59% are small and marginal farmers andlandless labourers who depend onagriculture. Two-thirds of agriculturallabourers are women.

- DFID’s focal states of Andhra Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal andBihar together account for 40% of India’srural poor.

- 16% of India’s population is classified asscheduled caste, and 8% as scheduledtribe. These groups are dominantly poorand rural and face particular socio-culturalbarriers to development.

Source: Compiled from various sources including NationalCensus (2001), National Sample Survey, 61st round(2004/05); National Family Health Survey 3 (2005/06);Mahendra Dev and Ravi ‘Poverty and Inequality:All India and States, 1983-2005’. Economic and PoliticalWeekly. (2007). pp 509-521.

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DFID’s Approach toImproving Rural Livelihoods

DFID’s rural livelihoods programmes in Indiawork with the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa,Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. These programmesfocus on some of the poorest and most remote districts inthese states and particularly target women and sociallyexcluded tribal and caste groups (adivasis and dalits).

The rural livelihoods approach places people at thecentre of development, and focuses on building assetsand skills so that women and men can access newopportunities for income generation and employment.Supportive policies, robust institutions, and regulatoryand incentive structures that both encourage growth and


protect the most vulnerable, areessential to improving livelihoods. At thesame time, reliable services - such asmicro-finance, veterinary and cropadvice - and access to agricultural inputsand markets, are necessary to ensurethat improvements are sustained.

People’s participation, capacitybuilding, technical innovation andservice delivery are central to all ourrural livelihoods programmes. Howeveras we have gained experience, severalprogramme models have evolved,responding in part to the priorities ofour state government partners.

In the late 1990s our main emphasiswas on the rainfed farming projects ineastern India and western India,managed by the NGO, Gram Vikas Trust,and on forestry projects. These projectsresulted in improved livelihoods,capacity and services in participatingvillages. Some of the lessons learnedwere influential in subsequentprogrammes but the lack of formalinstitutionalisation in governmentsystems hampered widespread uptake.

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What DFID is doing to supportRural Livelihoods in India

DFID’s current rural livelihoods portfoliocomprises five major programmes, with a totalbudget of around £152.5m (December 2007).Active Programmes are highlighted.

Rainfed Farming Projects

- The Eastern India and Western India Rainfed FarmingProjects (EIRFP - £6.7m; WIRFP - £15.5m), completed in2005 and 2007 respectively pioneered the use of jankars(para-professionals) to promote innovation at the villagelevel, participatory varietal selection and plant breeding forsustainable improvements of crop yield, and improvingopportunities for those who choose to migrate.

Watershed-based Development Programmes

- Karnataka Watershed Development Project(KAWAD), (£4m; 1998-2005)

- Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Programme(APRLP), (£45.5m; 1999 – 2007)

- Western Orissa Rural Livelihoods Programme(WORLP), (£33m; 2000-2010)

APRLP and WORLP support state watershed developmentprogrammes by providing additional funds, capacity buildingand technical support for community self-help groups,productivity enhancement and micro-enterprise development.

Rural Livelihoods Programmesbased on PRIs or Administrative Units

- Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Programme(MPRLP), (Phase - 1 £16.6m, 2004-2007; Phase 2 -£45m 2007-2012) also works mainly with poortribal communities, but places emphasis on empowermentof village assemblies or gram sabhas to prepare actionplans and manage resources to build and protectlivelihoods. MPRLP provides the funds for the gram sabhaand beneficiaries to implement approved action plans.

- West Bengal Strengthening Rural DecentralisationProgramme (SRD), (Phase I - £9m 2005-2007;proposed Phase II 2008-2011) builds the capacity of grampanchayats (elected village level committees) in support ofthe State policy on decentralised governance. TheProgramme provides an untied poverty fund to supportlivelihoods activities and delivery of services as defined inaction plans prepared by gram panchayats.

- Orissa Tribal Empowerment and LivelihoodsProgramme (OTELP), (£9.8m; 2005-2010), which isco-funded by IFAD (International Fund for AgriculturalDevelopment) builds capacity of poor tribal communitiesto manage their own development. Particular attention isgiven to access to land and to the management ofcommon property resources such as pasture and forests.


The next generation of DFID support focused onthe watershed based development programmes ofthe Government of India, initially in three states.DFID support transformed these from naturalresource programmes focus, emphasising physicalconservation works and primarily benefitinglarger, mostly male, landowners, to people centredprogrammes, inclusive of all the residents of thewatersheds and paying particular attention tolandless, women and other vulnerable groups.This has become known as a ‘watershed plus’approach. Specific elements of the ‘plus’ arecomponents for productivity enhancement andmicro-enterprise promotion with earmarkedfunding, as part of a broader approach that includesenhanced participation, capacity building andinnovation.

Emphasis on decentralisation of governmentthrough elected panchayati raj institutions prompteddifferent variants of the rural livelihoods modelin Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, whereprogrammes have adopted administrative units,rather than physical units, as the basis for planning.The Madhya Pradesh programme, which is focusedon tribal districts, adopts the gram sabha, or villageassembly, as the primary planning unit and directsdevelopment funds through the gram khosh, orvillage account. In West Bengal, the focus ondecentralised governance and capacity building isstronger and planning is focused on gram panchayatand subordinate village assemblies that are ableto access an untied poverty fund to supportlivelihood enhancement activities. The Orissa TribalEmpowerment and Livelihoods Programme (OTELP)works through Integrated Tribal DevelopmentAgencies in tribal villages in the poorest districtsof Orissa.

Lessons learned from our rural livelihoodsprogrammes have been scaled up within statesand have informed broader state policy on ruraldevelopment. They have also been shared betweenstates, including with programmes sponsored byother donors such as the World Bank and UNDP.The watershed-plus experience in Andhra Pradeshand Orissa has been instrumental in shapingnational policy and guidelines on watershed-baseddevelopment, making them more participatoryand pro-poor.

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Villagers are trained to maintain their own records

Programmes focus on the socially excluded tribal groups

Progress is driven by women’s self-help groups


In 2007 rural livelihoods programmes targetedapproximately 15 million and have achieved thefollowing direct impacts on Millennium DevelopmentGoal (MDG) targets:

Impact on Povertyand Hunger (MDG 1)Income has increased and income sources are

diversifying, particularly for socially-excluded groups.The Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Programmehas moved an estimated 1 million people abovethe poverty line and incomes of the poorest and ofwomen headed households have risen by 85% and92% respectively over the project period (as against56% and 37% for non-beneficiaries). Across theAndhra Pradesh and Orissa programmes, foodavailability has improved during the traditionally“hungry months”. Households report fewer dayswithout sufficient food, increased production ofstaple food crops, or increased access to foodthrough food-for-work schemes.

Impact on GenderEquality and Women’sEmpowerment (MDG 3)Programmes have enhanced the role of women

in household decision making and in gainingimproved access to services. For example, in WesternOrissa, 65% of women from poorest householdsreported increased access to their entitlements fromGovernment schemes as a result of campaigns bywomen’s self-help groups.

Other ImpactsPoor people have improved access to forest

products and improvements in grazing areas.Access to safe drinking water has increased, thenumber of children being enrolled in schools hasincreased in villages where livelihoods interventionsare undertaken – and people are choosing to spendtheir money on education for their children.

More children are being sent to school

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Impact

Access to safe drinking water has increased


New markets for traditional artisans

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Income sources are diversifying

Distribution of household income of sample households in APRLP

Income before APRLP (2002-03)

Sample Households

Sample Households

Household Annual Income (Rs)

Household Annual Income (Rs)

Hou

seho

lds

Hou

seho

lds

Current Income (2006-07)

Source: TARU Primary Study, 2007 Base: 384 households


A range of different mechanisms have beenadopted to share lessons. These include thestakeholder Livelihoods Forum in Madhya Pradesh,independent impact assessments, research anddocumentation and annual experience sharingevents across programmes. There is a strongemphasis on piloting, demonstrating and learningfrom new approaches, sharing these withgovernment departments and working to ensure thatthey are mainstreamed within long-term schemesand programmes of the relevant line departments.

All DFID rural livelihoods interventions have astrong focus on scaling up through engagement inpolicy and influencing. This works best where theprogramme is not seen as a stand-alone project, butis placed within existing programmes or structures.

In Andhra Pradesh for example, the managementunit of APRLP sits within the Commissionerate ofRural Development of GoAP, and at district level,implementation is through the existing governmentDistrict Water Management Agency. This closeintegration within existing programmes led to thedecision by GoAP to scale up APRLP approachesfrom the original 5 districts to the remaining 17districts in Andhra Pradesh, extending the outreachto over 10 million people. Assuming a similar impactin the outreach districts the Project could potentiallylift more than 2.5 million people above the povertyline. APRLP has been transformational in the mannerin which it has influenced the way in which the StateGovernment runs rural development programmes.

Although rural livelihoods programmes inOrissa and Madhya Pradesh have shorter histories,similar experience of scaling up is emerging.In Orissa, WORLP works with the WatershedDevelopment Mission that oversees all watershedprogrammes in the State. WORLP approaches arebeing scaled up to six additional districts throughthe State Government’s Jeevika programme, andmay be extended to further districts in the future.In Madhya Pradesh, the State Government is lookingto MPRLP to lead the process of developingoperational guidelines for an Integrated LivelihoodsProgramme throughout the state.

Some areas in which our programmes havemade a transformational impact are described inthe following pages under the headings of:

- Promoting income generation andrural growth;

- Better management of Natural Resources;

- Targeting the poorest and sociallymarginalised;

- Strengthening local institutions andself governance.

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Learning Lessonsand Scaling Up

Kalajatha programmes are used to spread messages


Promoting IncomeGeneration andRural GrowthDFID programmes deliberately target the poorest

districts and usually the poorest villages with a highconcentration of scheduled tribes or scheduledcastes and poor social indicators such as literacyrate. Typically, agriculture or harvesting of naturalproducts, are the main sources of livelihood andmany of the poorest are landless, depending oncasual labour and are forced to migrate if work isnot available. Nonetheless, opportunities exist forthe rural poor to build their assets and to improvetheir sustainable income. Our programmes help thepoor to take advantage of such opportunities bysupporting village level organisations such asself-help groups (SHGs), building the necessaryskills and facilitating access to supplies, technicaladvice and markets. Diversification of livelihoodshelps communities to counter risks as well as to raiseincomes. We look for opportunities both within andoutside agriculture to provide people with a range ofoptions that respond to their needs and capacities.

Agriculture

For example, the Western India RainfedFarming Project has helped poor farmers tocollaborate with research scientists to develop cropvarieties and agricultural technologies that aresuited to their local conditions and meet their needs.In contrast to official varieties of rice and maize,that seek to maximise grain yield under optimalconditions, a number of varieties have beendeveloped with traits such as drought tolerance,short field duration, use for livestock fodder, graincolour and taste that are preferred by farmers.

These varieties developed though client orientedbreeding, such as Ashoka 200F, Ashoka 228 andKalinga III upland rice, outperform conventionalvarieties by 20-30% under local conditions. Over99% of farmers who have tried them continue togrow them on increasing proportions of their land.

Micro-enterprise

One of the successes under the watershedprogrammes has been the inclusion of revolvingfunds to support the poorest to set up micro- Self-help groups are supported

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New technologies are promoted

enterprises in the villages. Business knowledge andskills training are given, using resource people andinstitutions. Activities promoted include agricultureand livestock related enterprises as well as servicesand trades. A huge diversity of enterprises have beensupported – including seed production, makingvermicompost, floriculture and horticulture, makingof incense sticks, dairy activities, tamarind business,leaf plate making, repair of bicycles and electricalitems, phone booths, flour mills, road siderestaurants. In APRLP and WORLP these loanshave been particularly targeted to the landless.

Jobs and SkillsDevelopment

Both APRLP and MPRLP are working inpartnership with others to promote jobs andvocational training schemes. In Andhra Pradesh,8,200 rural youths are being provided with skills andjob placements through skills development, whilstanother 1,512 are being trained in electronic skillsareas to meet the growing demand from companiesin the State.


Empowering the Community throughAwareness of Weights and Measures

(OTELP)

Although people’s livelihoods in southernOrissa usually depend on marketing ofproduce, most villagers are ignorant ofweights and measures and are thereforetargets for exploitation by unscrupuloustraders. To ensure proper weight of the foodgrains received with the support from WFPand distributed to the labourers, weighingscales have been provided to each VillageDevelopment Committee. Responding todemand from the villagers in Belghar GramPanchayat under ITDA, Balliguda, a largerweighing scale was installed at a centralplace in the village. Introduction of scaleshas empowered villagers so that they obtaina fair price when selling their produce tothe middlemen, resulting in averageincreases in income of around 30%. Thetraders and middlemen, who were used toexploiting the poor tribals, attempted todamage the weighing scale but the situationwas then brought under control by thedistrict authority.

Supporting Those whoChoose to Migrate

WIRFP included an innovative and demanddriven migration project, which is now informingother programmes. The Migrant Labour SupportProject established migrant facilitation centreswhich provided communication, insurance, ID cards,information on employment opportunities, assistancein wage negotiations, and training on migrant rightsand some of thisexperience is currently being scaledup under MPRLP. A Migration Hub, funded byDFID and the ILO, has also been established atthe national level, providing a platform for policydialogue on migration issues at central andstate levels.

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Diversification of livelihoods through pisciculture

Orissa Women engage in Fish Farmingfor the first time

In 2002 the Western Orissa RuralLivelihoods Project urged the women inMukundpur to set up self-help groups. ForBeltikhai Nayak and Bilaso Swain, the largepond that dominates the landscape ofMukundpur village in Deogaon block hasbeen their source of water for bathing,washing and watering their cattle, but onlynow has it also become a source oflivelihood. For years they have worked asdaily wage agricultural labour, earningRs.20 per day or 6 measures of paddy. Theyaugmented this income with making andselling muri (puffed rice) from the paddy.

The Project advised them to get togetherand start collective pisciculture in the pond.This was a fairly revolutionary idea, so theSHG members took a little time to mull overit, discussed the pros and cons and finallydecided to do it. In 2004, the entire groupwent to the Panchayat office. They leasedthe pond for a year for Rs.1,400. They thenspent Rs.5,200 on fingerlings which theProject helped them to buy fromChiplimani. They released 28 packets, eachcontaining 750 fingerlings of rui, bhakurand grass carp. The women are happy atbeing able to engage in this activity andare hopeful of good results. Pisciculture asa collective enterprise has built theconfidence of the women and is apotentially sustainable livelihood optionfor many of the resource-poor in westernOrissa.


Better Management ofNatural ResourcesNatural resources, such as water, land and forests

are fundamental to the livelihoods of the rural poor.Our projects target rainfed areas where water islimited, soils are fragile and prone to erosion andforests play a key role in supplying the productsnecessary to support the livelihoods of the poorest.Under such conditions sustainable management ofnatural resources to ensure lasting benefits isparamount. The watershed managementprogrammes of Government of India, which DFIDsupports in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, are groundedin the conservation and sustainable use of waterand soils in hydrological units.

Water

Rural livelihoods programmes are contributing toimproved management of water resources, throughwatershed management interventions, includingdemand-driven improvements to drinking water.This is leading to important changes in the lives ofthe rural poor, particularly women. In APRLPwatersheds there has been a major increase in theavailability of water, through the revival of previouslydry borewells and dug wells. The number of surfacewater sources has tripled. Nearly half of all APRLPwatersheds have seen an increase in groundwaterlevels. More land has been brought under irrigation,primarily due to good rainfall, watershedinterventions, and availability of credit under APRLP.

Whilst watershed management activities havebrought many benefits, there is a danger that theymay also contribute to unintended consequences,including reduced inflows to traditional tank systems,catchment closure and groundwater overdraft.Given that there is limited scope for increasing waterresources, the emphasis needs to shift towardsimproved management of existing water resourcesand, in particular, ensuring that allocation of waterto meet primary needs has priority. This requires anefficient and equitable water governance systemfor using and allocating available water resources.APRLP has contributed in this area, developing toolssuch as water audits, which can assist decisionmakers to make informed decisions about water,taking into account issues of equity, sustainabilityand efficiency.

Micro-irrigation using a step-pump

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Watershed management through conservation structures

Watershed associations play an important role


Summer Crop made possible withRing Wells in Orissa

“We were not growing any crops in thesummer season, save for some desi chana thatfetched about Rs.10 per kg. That too waspossible only when the crop did not fail,which happened often. We were indebted tomoneylenders.

Then WORLP helped us to construct ring wells.We have now started growing crops in summerusing the water from these ring wells. Weproduce 60 quintals of onion alone in oneacre which gets us Rs.13-14 per kg,” saysPrabhakar Nayak a farmer from the Bhatratribe from Kamlajor watershed of Koksarablock in Kalahandi district. Kesab Sahoo ofRupra village in Narla block received Rs.9,400from the Watershed Development Committeeto construct a 25 feet deep ring well. He isnow able to grow two crops of vegetablesand onion. In 2006 he had a profit ofRs.30,000 from these crops while earlier hewas barely able to make ends meet. RajibMohanty, member of the project’s capacitybuilding team, says, “Having ring wells inrainfed areas helps the struggling marginalfarmers to cope with adverse conditions.”

The introduction of low cost onion storagegodowns has added to the profit. The womenfrom Patarbasa hamlet call it a boon as theycan now store and sell onions at higher rates.

Land

Land is of equal importance to water insupporting livelihoods. In some of the remote hillyareas targeted by the rural livelihoods programmesland resources are fragile and subject to erosionand damage if they are misused. Low levels ofnutrients, which are further depleted by cropping,low levels of soil organic matter and limited waterholding capacity constrain land productivity.Shortage of common grazing land is often alimitation to livestock raising, and the grazing landthat does exist is often degraded. Soil conservationis an integral part of the works component ofwatershed development, and WORLP and APRLPpay attention to the management of commongrazing land in watershed development plans.

From Slash and Burn toProductive Horticulture

Borigi, one of the remotest villages inNarayanpatna Block of Koraput district insouthern Orissa is surrounded by hills andforests. The major source of livelihood isagriculture on encroached forest areassubjected to Podu (slash and burn). Thecontinuous exploitation of these lands hasalready destroyed the topsoil and thefarmers invest their labour for outputs solow that they are barely sufficient to supportthe family for the whole year. Through OTELPthe villagers were encouraged to take upvegetable cultivation in their private landsand were provided with support formarketing in nearby towns. This handholdingsupport from the staff of the IntegratedTribal Development Agency and facilitatingNGO enabled the poor tribal farmers to earnsubstantial income within a short period,which was more than what they used to getout of Podu cultivated areas. They werefurther helped to grow mango and cashewin a patch of the degraded Podu lands. Thevillagers are now convinced that they canearn their livelihoods from alternate sourceslike vegetable cultivation with much lesslabour. They have decided not to continuewith the Podu cultivation in the forest areasand to cover all the Podu affected areas withplantation of horticultural species such asmango and cashew.

Onions and a low cost onion storage shed

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Targeting the Poorestand MarginalisedWithin DFID’s focal states, which include some

of the poorest in India, we select the poorest districts,or those which have the highest proportion ofscheduled caste or tribes. In Madhya Pradesh,for example, villages were selected on the basis ofthree rigorous criteria – less than 1,000 population,proportion of Scheduled Tribes or adivasis over 50%and female literacy rates of less than 30%.

Community based targeting methods are usedwithin villages, enabling all community members tocarry out their own identification of different wealthgroups. This enables communities as well as projectteams to disaggregate and monitor information onwho benefits, and to identify mechanisms to ensurethat resources really reach the poorest.

All projects have been active in supporting theparticipation of women in community level planningand decision making. As a result, there is a clearincrease in the status and confidence of poor women.In Andhra Pradesh in particular, but increasingly inother areas, they are organised, have access tofinancial resources, and are becoming moreempowered to negotiate matters on their own.

Active participation in group activities outsidethe home and particularly the experience of playinga leadership role in the community has made asignificant change in the lives of women.

However, in the drive to increase women’sparticipation, there is a risk of women beingoverburdened with additional responsibilities.APRLP has led the way promoting a wider approachto gender - trying to ensure that the concerns ofboth men and women are taken into account.

A gender and equity policy was drawn up,and the Project has worked with both men andwomen on gender awareness. A study in 2006 inAPRLP areas indicated that gender relations werechanging, and that that women are getting moresupport from men in household responsibilities.These changes are associated with the socialmobilisation activities of the Project.

There is a gradual change in gender relations

Participation could overburden women


Remote Tribals of Madhya Pradesh,find a Secure Livelihood

MPRLP provides training to support a rangeof activities - from traditional farm basedenterprises to vocational training andcertification enabling them to participatein new areas of growth, such as constructionor diamond cutting. By building theirunderstanding of their rights, the projectalso empowers rural people to demandbetter services from local government.

Ram Bai, a tribal woman from Anuppurdistrict, describes how membership of therural womens group has made a differenceto her life: “We all used to work as farmlabourers, cultivating paddy in the fieldsof big farmers. Sometimes we used to workfor daily wages in the local market. Nowthere is a constant demand for our leafplates, and we do not have to wait for smalljobs and the uncertainty of daily wagework.”

Raju from Badwani district has also gainedfrom the project. He says, “I do not haveany landholding. I am responsible forlooking after my grandmother and sister.My mother also works on a daily wagebasis… Supporting my family was tough.Suddenly I got this opportunity andjoined the diamond cutting training...”

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Beyond Disabilities

20 year-old Pradeep Bhoi was an athleticyoung man till he fell from a tree in 2002.The fall left him paralysed from the waistdown. Doctors from Cuttack and Burla saidthere was no hope of his recovery. Pradeeplives with his father, mother and youngersister. His younger sister has stopped goingto school so that she can take care of herbrother. Although Pradeep knows aboutdisability pension, he refuses to apply forit as the hope of recovery still burns bright.

Pradeep needs regular medicines but hisfather’s income isn’t enough to feed thefamily and also buy medicines for him. Hisfather had already sold 30 decimals of landto pay for his older sister’s marriage thisyear.

Therefore, Pradeep took up screen-printingto earn some money. “I print cards,pamphlets and posters,” says Pradeep,proudly showing some samples. His unclein Chattisgarh lent him some instrumentsand screens. But Pradeep worries about theday when he has to return these to hisuncle. He says, “I need my own equipment.I also need someone to assist me. My backhurts when I bend over to work on my bed.A table would give me lot of relief. Anexposure box will let me work at any timewithout waiting for sunlight to expose theprints. This will also help me to take largerorders.” Being the only screen printer inthe village, a lot of orders come his wayduring the wedding season, but he cannotmeet all of them because he does not havethe proper infrastructure.

Pradeep has been identified as ‘vulnerable’by WORLP. He has been helped to developthe required infrastructure for hisenterprise. The investment is expected tobe between Rs.10,000 to 12,000. “Mydream is to improve and expand mybusiness so that I can be independent. Dodreams come true?” asks this young boy.The courage with which he fights adversityhas won him the respect of the community,and made him a role model in the village.

Pradeep Bhoi at work with his printing enterprise


Self-monitoring by self-help groups

these assemblies are meeting regularly, becomingmore inclusive of women and marginalised groups,and are making decisions and using funds for thepurpose intended. There has been good progressin fund disbursements and in strengtheningtransparency and accountability at village level.The process of establishing micro-plans, requestingand utilising funds has been well coordinatedby these assemblies.

StrengtheningLocal Institutionsand Self-GovernanceBuilding local level institutions to manage

resources, whether financial or natural, is at thecore of the sustainable livelihoods programmes.Wider community participation is a preconditionto ensuring that implementation of programmesis inclusive, and people centred. Each communityundertakes a participatory needs assessment, wealthranking of households, and community action plansor micro plans. Funds are released to village level,and are managed and accounted for by villagelevel organisations.

Each state has a different institutionalframework, and different institutions have been thefocus of different programmes. Andhra Pradesh hasa very strong foundation of self-help groups, whichare federated into Village Organisations. APRLPhas been implemented successfully by these VillageOrganisations. As a result, these are increasinglythe focal institutions for all rural developmentprogrammes. Other programmes work more closelywith the lower rungs of the Panchayati Raj system.Capacity building is given high emphasis, whetheron financial management, organisational issues,preparation of village development plans or socialaudit systems to ensure transparency.

West Bengal is one of the most advanced statesin terms of devolution of functions to PanchayatRaj Institutions (PRIs). DFID supports theStrengthening Rural Decentralisation Programme(SRD), which builds the capacity of PRIs down tothe village cluster (gram panchayat) and village(gram unnayan samities) level to plan and implementdevelopment plans in a participatory way withvillagers. SRD provides an untied poverty fund tosupport implementation of plans. To date SRDhas been instrumental in helping to build skills,improve provision of social services, including healthservices, improving infrastructure and strengtheningresilience to natural disasters such as floods. A recentevaluation indicates significant improvements inPRI capacity to plan and manage resources, andmodest increases in income of beneficiaries afteronly one and a half years of operation.

In Madhya Pradesh, MPRLP has been workingthrough the gram sabhas or village assemblies.Previously these were not functioning. Now

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Empowered women hold their own

Using maps to help design and implementation


Strong Local Ownership enables OTELPto work in a Zone of Conflict

Saralapadar is a village in the NuagadaBlock of Gajapati District. The village isabout 9 kms away from the nearest townR. Udayagiri and is well within the areasidentified to be under influence of Maoistsactivities. Many Government developmentprogrammes in the area are implementedthrough contractors with limitedconsultation with villagers. These projectsare frequently targeted by Maoists who seethem as bringing few benefits to thepeople, and who demand a share of thebudget outlay.

OTELP exposed villagers to people-centredplanning and implementation, buildingtheir confidence and trust in theGovernment system for the first time. Theplan of implementation and funds fordifferent programme activities are beingmanaged by the villagers themselvesthrough the Village DevelopmentCommittee and their working subcommittees.

Clear ownership and support of the projectby the people changed the attitude ofthe Maoists. An attack on the town ofR. Udaygiri on 24th March 2006 resulted inthe police station and the jail beingcaptured for three hours, and in the seizureof two Government officers who were heldfor 11 days. Bridge construction work wasgoing on in the village and the Maoists tookmoney from the contractor for theirboarding for a day and also used the trucksof the contractor for the attack.

Coincidentally a team of government andNGO officers from OTELP was in the villagefor about three hours around the same timethat this disturbance was taking place.Although the Maoists knew about themeeting of OTELP officers, they did not stopthe villagers from attending the meeting.The villagers were interrogated by theMaoists about OTELP, and explained thatthe project was owned and managed bythem, with the funds received directly intheir accounts for carrying out developmentactivities. The Maoists accepted thisexplanation and witnessed the level ofparticipation of the villagers in OTELP. Theydid not interfere in the programme ordemand any share from the village accountintended for OTELP.

In Andhra Pradesh, APRLP has been able to buildon a solid foundation of SHGs, established primarilyby others including the World Bank’s Indira KrantiPatham (IKP). APRLP has invested in considerablesocial mobilisation, to ensure that the SHGs, VillageOrganisations and others are able to implementpro-poor, gender equitable approaches to naturalresource management.

Capacity building has been a core componentof all programmes and APRLP has pioneereda systematic and professional approach. DistrictCapacity Building Centres were established from theoutset to provide demand driven capacity buildingfor all stakeholders. Livelihoods Resource Centreshave been set up at district and cluster level, andhave now been extended to all districts in the State.These centres provide services based on demand,and bring training as close to beneficiaries aspossible. Many centres are supported by NGOs whoprovide technical and managerial support, increasedscope and shared responsibility. The Government ofAP is committed to fund and support these centresto build rural development skills in the longer termand will continue the partnership with NGOs toharness the best available expertise.


Adopting a process approach to design and implementationin all DFID rural livelihoods programmes has been important.This has enabled project management to be flexible andresponsive to changing demands. This process continues,and as new opportunities and challenges are thrown up, thereis capacity to respond accordingly. Currently some of theseemerging areas of engagement include:

Improving DevelopmentEffectiveness by Convergenceof ProgrammesRural development accounts for the largest sectoral outlay

in the Government of India budget (31.7% of plan outlay, or£3.7 billion, in the 10th Five Year Plan). A further £0.45 billion(3.8% of plan outlay) is devoted to agricultural and animalhusbandry schemes. This development expenditure is channelledthrough a large number of centrally sponsored schemes.For example, there are currently eleven centrally sponsoredschemes dealing with watershed-based development alone,led by three ministries and the Planning Commission. Additionalprogrammes are sponsored by State Governments. However inspite of substantial expenditure and a plethora of programmesprogress in reducing rural poverty has been modest.

There is a strong rationale for “converging” of some ruraldevelopment programmes to make them more efficient andcost effective. DFID’s rural livelihoods programmes are integratedinto government systems, and are well placed to play a catalyticrole in converging rural livelihoods with other initiatives thatare targeted in the same areas. Collaboration with otherprogrammes, schemes and services has been an explicit objectiveof all programmes, and is growing in importance. Successfulmodels of implementation have already been adopted by others -for example, other rural development programmes are using theAPRLP model and are working through Village Organisations.

But in the last year, there has been a step change in theway in which Rural Development Departments are looking atconvergence. In Andhra Pradesh, a pilot in Chittoor District isunderway to integrate all budgets, staff and rural developmentprogrammes. In Madhya Pradesh the State Government hasalso recently announced an ambitious programme to integrateall rural development programmes across the State throughan inter-ministerial forum at the State level and new

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Responding to New Challengesand Opportunities


Access to Land, Jobs and Improved Soiland Water through Convergence

in Andhra Pradesh

Field staff in Gundala mandal in Nalgonda,have been working together across ruraldevelopment programmes to promoteconvergence and improve the effectivenessof the programmes that they deliver to poorpeople. Both field level staff and localpolitical leaders have been actively engagedin ensuring that the Comprehensive LandDevelopment Programme, the RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme and thewatershed and livelihoods programmes wereworking in harmony.

Land was assigned to poor, landlesshouseholds, under the CLDP. But the landrequired clearing and preparation before itwas cultivable. This was done by the farmerwith his family. Silt was then brought froma nearby NREGS site, where a tank wasbeing desilted. The silt was spread on thefield to improve soil fertility. The NREGSworks programme not only provided poorhouseholds with labour, but alsosuccessfully deepened the tank so that itwould hold more water following the rains.

While structures under the watershedprogramme, such as percolation tanks,recharged wells in the area, formerlylandless people, and others in the village,were being provided with technical inputsand advice by local field staff as well asNGO members. In addition, the villagerswere supplementing their agriculturalincome through a variety of enterpriseinitiatives promoted through the self-helpgroups and Village Organisations under theAPRLP.

district level committees. DFID’s rural livelihoodsprogrammes are well placed to assist theseinnovative approaches to improving the deliveryof rural development programmes throughintegrated structures, budgets and approaches.

The National Rural Employment GuaranteeScheme (NREGS) is a particularly obvious targetfor convergence with rural livelihood programmes.NREGS a safety net programme providing aguarantee of employment for each household up to100 days/year, and much of this work is based onimplementing soil and water conservation activities.DFID livelihoods programmes work closely with theNREGS to improve the quality of implementation,and monitor its effectiveness. MPRLP is responsiblefor implementation of NREGS in the eight districtswhere the programme operates, while in AndhraPradesh the Commissionerate for Rural Developmentis responsible for both APRLP and NREGSimplementation.

The Orissa Tribal Empowerment and LivelihoodsProgramme provides examples of convergence inemployment, agriculture, forestry and health:

- The village development and livelihoods planincludes a range of activities, some of whichcan be funded under OTELP but others thatmay draw on other rural developmentschemes. Village Development Committeeswill put forth their demand for daily wageemployment under NREGS to the respectiveGram Panchayat on the basis of their VDLPand accordingly the GP will have to preparethe consolidated NREGS plan.

- Farmers with more than one acre of land areeligible for the National Horticultural Mission.Additionally, nurseries raised by SHGs can beofficially declared and sell seedlings tobeneficiaries of the NHM.

- OTELP is collaborating with the ForestDevelopment Agencies that are implementingthe National Afforestation Programme toensure that developments under the NAP bothimprove the health of forests and positivelyimpact on the livelihoods of communities.

- OTELP Village Development Committees, whichinclude a volunteer health worker, work withthe Accredited Social Heath Activist under theNational Rural Health Mission to implementthe village health plan. Tank silt improves soil fertility

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Food Security andSocial ProtectionProgress on reducing hunger has lagged behind

reduction of income poverty. Child malnourishment isthe most commonly used indicator to measure foodsecurity. For India as a whole, the proportion ofunderweight children fell from 52% to 47% between1992/93 and 1998/99 and thereafter it has remainedstagnant around that level. In 2005-6, 46% of childrenwere estimated to be underweight in India, andstatistics suggest that there are currently more hungrypeople in India than in the whole of Africa. On thebasis of the progress made during the last thirteenyears, India is highly unlikely to come close to theMDG target by 2015.

Rural livelihoods programmes have improvedpeople’s access to nutritious food, either throughimprovements in crop or livestock production, byhelping people get jobs or set up micro-enterprises,or in cases of extreme poverty or response to disastersby supporting food for work initiatives. Such measureshave resulted in some modest improvements tofood security, assessed in terms of a decrease inthe period when food shortages are experienced.Rural livelihoods approaches have a role to play inrevitalising progress towards food security. We needto do more work on establishing baselines andmeasuring progress, and in promoting better linkswith nutritional initiatives.

Increasingly, DFID programmes are looking at waysof protecting, as well as promoting, the livelihoods ofvulnerable people. This includes a strong emphasis onsocial protection schemes which can reduce risk andvulnerability. Areas being considered include areas ofweather or crop insurance, or a price stabilisationfund to benefit gatherers of forest products. Improvedpersonal insurance against sickness, accident or death,are other examples that would ensure that resourcesdo not flow out of productive activity in response toshocks or stresses. MPRLP aims to improve people’sunderstanding of their entitlements and ability todemand their rights – to government schemes suchas the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme or theTargeted Public District Scheme. MPRLP hasdeveloped some innovative legal literacy toolsto help build awareness of rights and entitlements.In WORLP 65% of the poorest households reportincreased access to their entitlements fromGovernment schemes due to rights basedentitlement campaigns of women self-help groups.

Food security through:

Backyard poultry

Improved livestock

Better storage

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Intensifying Land Use forFood Security and Income

Tunu Sabar is a small farmer. He lives in Semelpali village,in the Larki Watershed of western Orissa. He owns 2.5acres of land, of which 1 acre is upland, 1 is midland andhalf is lowland. During the drought in 1993, the Blockoffice helped him to dig a well on his land. He used tocultivate kharif paddy, which yielded about 10-12quintals. This was not sufficient to cater for his largefamily of ten, even for four months. Tunu had no optionbut to migrate to Andhra Pradesh with his family to workin the brick kilns.

WORLP introduced the concept of developing vegetablegardens, based on the traditional Lari model. Tunu wasencouraged by Mr Biranchi Mahapatra, of CPSW (the PIA)to switch over to cultivating various cash crops on hisland throughout the year, on a rotational basis.

Tunu started with the cultivation of cabbage andcauliflower in the upland, brinjal and chilli in the midlandand onion in the lowland. The project helped with inputslike seeds and fertiliser, while regular technical inputsand hand-holding support were provided by the staff ofCPSW and the District watershed office. In the first yearhe had a net income of Rs.15,100 from all these crops.

The District Supply and Marketing Society (DSMS),Nuapada, WORLP helped farmers to build low-cost onionstorage in order to check the distress sale of onion. Tunuwas helped to build low-cost onion storage worthRs.10,000. He increased the area under onion cultivationand stored 20 qtl of onion in the newly built storagewhen the market price was Rs.350 per qtl. After threemonths, when the price had gone up to Rs.850 per qtlhe sold his stock, which had come down to 17 qtl becauseof a 15% weight loss during storage. His profit wasRs.8,500.

The other crops fetched Tunu an additional net profit ofRs.7,200. He had also planted 80 mango and 25 papayaseedlings. The papaya has already started yielding fruit,earning him another Rs.850. He has planted yam alongthe fence and has also supplied planting materials toten other farmers in the watershed. He received trainingon how to make vermicompost and vermiwash and hasadopted this technology in his farm.

Tunu’s land is now being used optimally and he is earningaround Rs.20,000 per year. With the profit from the twoseasons he purchased 5 goats. Their number has risen to14. Tunu is now sending 3 of his children to school andhis older son to the nearest college. He has decided notto migrate again and to continue working on his farm.He feels that his life has been miraculously transformed.His farm has become a demonstration point, not onlyfor farmers in the area, but also for many national andinternational visitors.

Tunu Sabar cultivates vegetables on his land

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Climate Change:Threats and OpportunitiesClimate change is increasingly important as a

policy issue for both the international community andfor India. It is likely to impact on rural India in twoways:

- Changes in temperature, rainfall regime, morevariable weather and increased frequency andseverity of natural disasters will affect thelivelihood strategies of rural people;

- The market for carbon offsets may createnew opportunities for resource flows topoor rural communities.

Climate change poses a new challenge to rurallivelihoods in India. Programmes need to identifythe increased risks resulting from climate changeand assess their significance for design andimplementation.

Our rural livelihoods programmes emphasisesustainable management of natural resources anddiversification of livelihood opportunities and areoperating in areas where seasonal and inter-annualvariability are key determinants of production andincome. The rural livelihoods approach promotedby DFID is consistent with adapting to climatechange. We plan to examine the extent to whichour existing programmes address adaptation andto assess if any measures need to be added orstrengthened in response to mounting evidence ofthe magnitude of climate change impacts.

International recognition of climate change as aglobal problem has resulted in the creation of amarket for carbon offsets, through which carboncredits can be created, either by avoided emissionsof greenhouse gases (GHGs) or by sequesteringcarbon in vegetation or soils. To date almost all ofthe benefits of the carbon market have been capturedby medium and large scale industry and very fewhave flowed to the poor. However as custodians ofnatural resources that can be used to either reduceor increase carbon dioxide emissions, the rural poorcould potentially earn significant revenue from thesale of carbon credits provided the current barriersto the carbon market can be addressed.

Such barriers include a currently limitedmethodological framework for appraising projectson avoided deforestation, compensated conservationor land use change and the high transaction costs

associated with large numbers of small projects.The voluntary carbon market offers a partial solutionto these constraints but this is less well developedand usually commands a lower carbon price thanthe formal Clean Development Mechanism approvedunder the Kyoto Protocol.

MPRLP has recently initiated a scoping study ofhow carbon markets can be used to support rurallivelihoods in Madhya Pradesh, and DFID is alsosupporting training in the preparation of carbonoffset projects in both Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.We are also designing a Climate Change InnovationProgramme with the Ministry of Environment andForests that will focus on helping the poor adapt toclimate change and benefit from any opportunitiesoffered by the carbon market. We are hopeful that apost-Kyoto agreement on climate change will deepenand widen the continuation the carbon market,unlocking new opportunities for the rural poor toparticipate.

Adapting to climate change by conserving water

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Can poor people gain carbon credits by planting trees?


Community Based Drought ResponseProgramme in Orissa (CBDRP):

Experience over the past two decades suggeststhat vulnerability to extreme weather events hasincreased markedly. Reflecting in part the patternof development itself, loss of life, displacement,and damage and destruction of natural, social andphysical capital have all increased, and the lossesare relatively greater for the poor.

The purpose of the programme was to create andstrengthen community institutions in buildingcommunity level emergency coping mechanism.A number of ‘drought proofing’ measures wereundertaken, including restoration of commonproperty resources.

Specific features include:

- Participatory drought impact assessments.

- Selection of Food for work (FFW) projects andidentification of FFW beneficiaries.

- Formulation of vulnerability mitigationprogramme with the community.

- Drought mitigation plan for each villagebased on participatory micro-level planning.

Subsequent evaluation demonstrated that thiscombination of measures was significant inbuilding the resilience of communities towithstand the harmful impacts of drought.

Further Challengesand OpportunitiesIndia’s rapid economic growth and development

cannot continue to miss out the rural poor. The challengeis to make this growth more inclusive, and, given thegrowing pressure on natural resources and the mountingthreat posed by climate change, to make it moresustainable. New technologies, including those associatedwith information and communications can help todrive this change and to accelerate the transition out ofpoverty in rural areas. The private sector is now themajor driver of growth in the Indian economy and couldpotentially play an increasingly important role inopportunities for the rural poor to become key players inIndia’s economic growth. While some work has beeninitiated on information technology and on engaging theprivate sector in promoting new technologies and linkingthe poor to markets, we see both of these issues playingan increasingly important role in rural livelihoodsapproaches in the future.

Traditional skills need new markets

26

Training helps the rural youth get jobsin the IT sector

Telephones open up access to new markets

New machines lead to improved livelihoods


The villagers have constructed an additionalroom in the village school building to serveas an Electricity Supply Workshop to be runby the Energy Committee. This will providea constant supply of electricity to the schoolso that the villagers can use it for eveningclasses or community meetings. A TV can berun in the workshop.

Thus, with the wholehearted participationof the villagers the trained women ofTinginaput successfully established the solarlighting system in the village. The systemcomprises:

- 18W Home lighting in every household withan additional facility for radio.

- SPV lantern.

- One street lighting system for the village.

Immediate impact observed

- The children are able to study in theevenings.

- Women are able to work and cook in well-lithomes.

- Village women have the option of makingbrooms in the evening, generating furtherincome.

- The village is safer from snakes.

- Village meetings can be more easily held inthe evenings.

- Drinking water can be drawn from thetubewell at night.

- Women save time, as they need to purchasekerosene less frequently.

- The danger of fire from kerosene lamps isremoved.

- The trained women are now able to earn bymaking and selling solar powered lights.

Solar Lighting System by Tribal Women underOTELP in Tinginaput village, Koraput district

The National Institute of Rural Development,Hyderabad, has established a Women BarefootSolar Engineers Association (WBSEA) tointroduce solar powered lighting to remotevillages. The WBSEA is imparting training for fourmonths to illiterate women from differentvillages on how to fabricate, wire, set up andmaintain the solar energy system. Theuniqueness of this initiative is that even thetotally illiterate women are trained not only toproduce and set up the solar energy systems butalso to operate them in the rural areas. Theprocess has been well adopted by manyilliterate women from different villages ofAndhra Pradesh, where solar lighting hasbeen provided to the entire village with smoothoperation and maintenance by the communitymembers.

Most of the villages in the programme areas ofOTELP lack the minimum infrastructurefacilities and villagers were receptive tointroducing solar lighting through women’sgroups. This would create jobs for the womenand help to empower communities.

An exposure visit to Paderu was organised forsome of the villagers of Tinginaput. Thereafteron a pilot basis, four tribal women from thevillage were sent to the National Institute forRural Development (NIRD) for five and halfmonths to undergo training on fabricating, wiringand setting up solar energy systems. The trainingwas practical rather than theoretical and wasconducted by the tribal women of Paderu village,who have formed a WBSEA. The four tribal womenof Tinginaput village successfully completed thetraining and came back fully confident that theycould establish the solar lighting system in thevillage.

A series of discussions was then held in thevillage to apprise all the villagers how toimplement and maintain the solar lightingsystem. A Solar Energy Committee was formedby the villagers and a savings bank accountopened in the name of the Committee. Eachvillager contributes Rs.50 per month to thisaccount as rent for the electricity supply system.In addition, each household is paying Rs.700 ininstalments, which will be kept in the accountas a fixed capital for investment to purchasebatteries at the end of 4 to 5 years of operation.

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A Bright Future in Koraput?


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Transforming rural livelihoods - indiaenvironmentportaladmin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/Transforming-RL-India-march.pdfIndia. Some of the lessons have been captured in the